The present invention relates to a method of producing a powder containing beneficial ascorbic acid, antioxidants and phytochemicals from the fruit of the kakadu plum plant, which is known under the scientific name, Terminalia ferdinandiana. 
An objective of the health industry in recent years has been to reduce free radicals in the human body. Free radicals are chemicals that cause damage to tissue, cells, fat and proteins that come into contact with the free radicals. Oxygen, although an essential chemical of life, is one of the leading producers of free radicals in the body that causes oxidative damage. This damage has been linked to cardiovascular diseases, cataracts and DNA damage, which may lead to development of cancer or contribute to accelerated aging.
Conventional sources of natural Vitamin C include citrus fruits, for example, oranges, mandarins and grapefruit. Such fruits are preferred because of their availability and their satisfactory upper ascorbic acid content of about 0.5% by weight. Moreover, such natural sources of Vitamin C have a somewhat high ability to reduce free radicals. This ability is measured in Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity (“ORAC”) values. Conventional concentrated citrus fruit extracts typically have ORAC values around 750 ORAC units/100 gm.
A natural substitute for citrus-based ascorbic acid comes from acerola. Acerola, after undergoing conventional extraction, concentration and drying, typically has an ascorbic acid content of 15% and an ORAC value of about 1000.
Only recently has the health industry discovered an alternative source of natural Vitamin C in the fruit of the kakadu plum plant, known by the scientific name Terminalia ferdinandiana. 
The kakadu plum fruit is an attractive alternative to conventional natural sources because of its high ascorbic acid content. Moreover, the kakadu plum fruit includes appreciable amounts of phytochemicals, for example, gallic acid, ellagic acid, and related compounds. These phytochemicals also have excellent antioxidant properties that have been implicated in cancer inhibition. Gallic acid has an antibacterial, antiviral and antifungul activities and also shows anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-mutigenic and anti-bronchodilatory activities. Ellagic acid has anti-carcinogenic effects against a wide range of carcinogens in many human tissues. Accordingly, in addition to providing enhanced ascorbic acid levels, the kakadu plum fruit provides many other beneficial phytochemicals.
However, several shortcomings are associated with use of the kakadu plum fruit as a natural source of ascorbic acid. First, the fruit itself has a tart or astringent taste, which makes it difficult to ingest directly as a source of Vitamin C. Second, the kakadu plum fruit includes pits to which the flesh of the fruit strongly clings. Third, the kakadu plum is an Aboriginal bush plant found only in the outback of Australia that has never been cultivated before. Thus, its availability is extremely limited. Finally, being a relatively new discovery as a natural source of Vitamin C, and given its limited availability, no commercial extraction methods are known which extract ascorbic acid and other valuable phytochemicals at beneficially high levels from the fruit.